Reading a lot of the LIS literature so you don't have to since 2005. This is my blog to reflect about librarianship, my work, literacy, stuff I read, and a few other academic things. If it is personal, not discussed in polite company (i.e. religion and politics), or more miscellaneous, I put it in my personal blog, The Itinerant Librarian.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

TLA 2007 Conference Notes, Day 1: Session on Government Documents

Session: Suzanne Sears, "Threats to Government Information Access: Can Democracy Survive in a Digital Enviroment."

(Interesting as I find govdocs and information access, this session was a bit heavy on the doom and gloom. However, the issue of loss of access to government information, which our taxes pay for and should be available to all citizens, is an important one).

"Information is the currency of democracy." --Thomas Jefferson.

Internet positives: increased access to government information and faster dissemination.

Internet negatives: Agencies now have control of the content instead of GPO; there is no longer a safeguard for material withdrawal. Fee based access has been increasing. There has also been an increase in fugitive documents. Fugitive documents are those that never made it to the GPO or the depository program at all.

Government information has been getting privatized. This is due to exceptions to the federal law requiring agencies deposit documents with the GPO. This results in less access. Some examples include STAT-USA and NOAA Climate Data. (Cooperative endeavors between the government and some publisher due to requirements from the federal government that certain endeavors be self-sustaining. So, the government partners with someone, and then information becomes privatized.). If the GPO is a partner, the information usually is accessible at a depository library.

Then there is disappearing information. Much of it is due to national security after 9/11 (some of it valid, some of it questionable).

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About Me

I have been an academic librarian since 2004, and I started blogging in
2005. Prior to this, I have been a high school teacher and a college
adjunct instructor.
One of my passions is to teach others how to know when they need
information, how to find it, and how to make use of it in an ethical
way. I have access to a diverse range of information sources, and I know
how to use them. Plus, I arm people with facts and information. I am
firm believer in teaching these very important skills.

I call my professional blog The Gypsy Librarian (where, among other things, I read a lot of library literature so you don't have to, then write about it) because a gypsy is a wanderer, and I am a wanderer at heart. Also because much as Federico García Lorca wrote in Romancero Gitano, as Puerto Rican, I have left my homeland and have struggled along the way. As Tolkien wrote,
"not all who wander are lost." I also keep a personal blog at The Itinerant Librarian. Feel free to check my blogs out. Comments are always welcome.

Married to The Better Half, we have a
daughter who reminds me innocence and wonder are great things. We also
have two cats who keep life interesting.